Eye drops reduce signs of macular degeneration in mice

Targeting cholesterol in retina stops rogue blood vessel growth often seen in the vision disease

Cholesterol-lowering eye drops may one day help preserve sight in people with a common cause of age-related vision loss, a new study suggests.

In old mice, eye drops that stimulate cells to shed cholesterol rejuvenated immune cells to fight off blood vessels encroaching into the retina, a hallmark of advanced age-related macular degeneration. The finding suggests that cholesterol buildup in the eye helps promote the condition, a leading cause of vision loss in people 50 and older.

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